Oscar Week! Nominee Costumer Holly Waddington of ‘Poor Things’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 6, 2024 - 11:44am

CHICAGO – One of the great perks of entertainment reporting is the encounter with a movie pro earlier in the year who eventually gets nominated for an Oscar. Last year it was “The Daniels” (eventual Best Director winners) and this year it’s the odds-on favorite for Best Costume Designer, Holly Waddington of “Poor Things.”

British native Waddington – who appeared at the 2023 Chicago International Film Festival – describes her early journey in the Podtalk below, and in her career she has moved up the ladder in her chosen field with costume work on such films as “Happy Go Lucky,” “First Night,” “War Horse” and “Lincoln.” She was Costume Designer on “Lady Macbeth” (winner, Best Costume Design at the British Independent Film Awards) and TV’s “The Great,” where she worked with Tony McNamara, the co-writer of “Poor Things.”

Costume Designer Holly Waddington Shows Off Her Style at CIFF
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

“Poor Things” begins with Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), a doctor whose procedures are revolutionizing operations in the early 1900s. When a pregnant woman (Emma Stone) attempts suicide by throwing herself in a London river, Godwin fishes her out, takes her baby’s brain, transplants into the distraught woman’s body, re-animates her Frankenstein-style, and raises her as an experiment … renaming her Bella. Enter Duncan (Mark Ruffalo), a notorious womanizer who takes Bella on a journey to use and abuse her, but when they end up broke she turns the tables on him, and he falls in love with her. So when her past arises again, what is a new soul like Bella to do?

Emma Stone as Bella in ‘Poor Things,’ Wearing a Holly Waddington-Designed Costume
Photo credit: Searchlight Pictures

In an Podtalk interview with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Costume Designer Holly Waddington of “Poor Things” journey and destination …

CLICK HERE for a perfect score on-air film review of “Poor Things” by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com.

The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will take place on March 10th, 2024, at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater, and will be broadcast on ABC-TV beginning at 7pm ET/6pm CT. Thanks always to the publicists and staff of the Chicago International Film Festival.